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The
campaign in favor of the tax measures on the Jan. 26 ballot has just
reported some major contributions from their union supporters as they
catch up to their business opponents.

The campaign opposing the tax measures is also continuing to
haul in big money from several of the state's major business interests. We're
now getting a much better picture of spending because the campaigns are now
required to report each transaction every seven days instead of 30
days.

So we got a slug of new spending reports overnight. The most
eye-catching ones were from the unions to the Vote Yes for Oregon
campaign. Perhaps most important was the $250,000 given by the national
leadership of Service Employees International Union. That's the first
real significant money coming from out-of-state, although it should be
noted that SEIU Local 503 is the
largest union representing state workers in Oregon. Local 503 recently gave
another $210,000 (bringing its aggregate contributions to nearly
$493,000).

Additionally, the Salem Statesman-Journal reported this weekend that the national headquarters of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees has pledged $500,000 to the pro-tax campaign.
Oregon AFSCME has
already given $250,000 and pledges another $250,000, according to the
story.

--Associated General Contractors,
$24,500 ($214,000 for campaign). Plus, an associated committee, Building a
Better Oregon, gave $27,000 (totalling $52,500 for the campaign).

--Oregon Bankers Association, $25,000 ($125,000 for campaign).

--Oregon Restaurant Association, $25,000 ($115,000 for campaign).

--Associated Oregon Industries,
$17,000 ($223,000 for campaign).

The National Association of Realtors kicked in $6,500 and the Oregon Association of Realtors gave $50,000. Also of
interest: the Oregon Business Council, which normally stays out of political
campaigns, has spent just over $16,000 on research help for the opposition
campaign.

All told, Vote Yes has raised $2.37 million while the
opposition campaign has raised $3.1 million. But those numbers aren't comparable
since Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes spent around $700,000 or so
collecting the signatures to place the tax measures on the ballot.

And
the opposition campaign says it is being outspent on the air when it comes to
advertising.